First family in Queensland to get NDIS funding says it is making a big difference
The first family in Queensland to receive National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) funding says the money is helping them cope with their daily "chaos".
Townsville mother Deborah Dooley has four children with disabilities.
Her 8-year-old son, who has autism, is the first in the state to secure a funding package.
Ms Dooley said the funding had enabled the family to engage support workers this week to get everyone out of the house and off to school.
It is not just a change of the way in which services are provided, it is an absolute mind shift for families and also for service providers.
Coralee O'Rourke, Disability Services Minister
"In the morning, helping with the chaos of getting four children that don't like school, don't like clothing, don't like uniforms etcetera, helping them get organised," Ms Dooley said.
"When you've got one you're trying to dress and the other one is taking clothes off ... that's made a big difference."
The NDIS is being trialled in the north Queensland centres of Townsville, Charters Towers and Palm Island before full implementation in 2019.
State Disability Services Minister Coralee O'Rourke said the National Disability Insurance Agency had a goal to have 100 funding packages approved during April, then 500 more before July 1.
Ms O'Rourke said the scheme would give people with disabilities and their families more choice and control.
"It is not just a change of the way in which services are provided, it is an absolute mind shift for families and also for service providers," Ms O'Rourke said.
"People with disabilities and their families will now have choice and control over the direction that their lives will take, about the services they will purchase, and the decisions and goals they want to achieve."
Have clear goals when applying for NDIS, mum advises
Ms Dooley said the application process had seemed daunting at first but the NDIS planners made it easy.
She said her initial goals were to have all her children be able attend school daily and to learn to cope with their sensory issues.
"The planners at NDIS ... kind of take it out of your hands because they are trained that way. They know what to be doing, what to be offering," Ms Dooley said.
I think once people are aware of how it works, how easy it is, that they have made it so that it does work, I think it will do really well up here.
Deborah Dooley
"As long as you have got enough information with goals that you want your child to be able to [achieve]," she said.
Ms Dooley said her family had already gained access to some allied services and support workers.
"So I kind of got what goals I wanted, which was really good," she said.
Ms Dooley is involved in several support groups for families who have children with disabilities.
She said a lot of families who were not sure where to get services or had not been able to afford services until now should benefit from the scheme.
"I think once people are aware of how it works, how easy it is, that they have made it so that it does work, I think it will do really well up here," Ms Dooley said.
"I think it is just going to better for a lot of families in the long run."
Read more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-15/townsville-family-first-to-get-ndis/7329084